- That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted or in any way, form or manner countenanced to unchartered & dangerous invasion of our rights as claimed by G. Britain is an enemy to this County - to America & to the inherent & inaliable rights of man.
1790
Mecklenburg County 11,395
1800
Mecklenburg County 10,439
1810
Mecklenburg County 14,272
1820
Mecklenburg County 16,895
1830
Mecklenburg County 20,073
1840
Mecklenburg County 18,273
1850
Mecklenburg County 13,914
City of Charlotte* 1,065
*Population not enumerated separately prior to 1850
1860
Mecklenburg County 17,374
City of Charlotte 2,265
1870
Mecklenburg County 24,299
City of Charlotte 4,473
1880
Alexander, Hezekiah, Homeplace. Also known as Rock House. Signer of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. On grounds of the Methodist Home.
*Battle of Charlotte. Commemorative drinking fountain and marble benches. Located at fork of Elizabeth Avenue and East Trade Street.
Benjamin, Judah. Location of spot where this high Confederate Government official was entertained at Charlotte indicated by granite slab, east side of 200 block, South Tryon Street.
*Confederate Cabinet. Location of last meeting place marked by bronze tablet at 122 South Tryon Street.
Since the material in this history is treated topically, the following chronological list of events and movements which have taken place locally may be helpful to the reader.
1750 Trade routes from Charlotte to Charleston established over Indian Trails.
1762 December 11. Mecklenburg created by Act of the Legislature, from Anson County (effective February 1, 1763).
1766 First log courthouse built in Charlotte.
Many of the people whose names appear in this history no longer frequent the busy thoroughfares. Had they not lived, there would probably be no book, certainly not one of such dimensions. Gravestones are constant reminders of the debts we owe for today's blessings. And, somewhere in each burial ground, rest those valiant guardsmen who gave their all for the preservation of justice, liberty, and freedom.
Among Charlotte lawyers of the 20th century, none will be remembered more vividly than Colonel Thomas LeRoy Kirkpatrick, good roads enthusiast, mayor, public servant extraordinary, and orator. It was he who spoke three times as long in introducing President Wilson as the President, himself, spoke when visiting Charlotte for the May 20th celebration in 1916. Of this event Mrs. Edith Bolling Wilson, widow of the President, has this to say in her book My Memoir(1938).
The Washington Post of June 16, 1901, carries an article by William Hugh Robarts entitled "Our National Weapon-Rise and Development of the American Rifle" which reads:
"The rifle became so popular in the South that a factory for making the hunting rifle was established at Charlotte, N. C., about 1740. The founders came from Leman's Rifle Factory at Lancaster, Pa., which is in existence to this day. The arm turned out there was unquestionably the best, because the most carefully constructed, rifle then made in America.
During the first half of the 20th Century three elaborate pageants were staged to portray early historic events occurring in Charlotte and Mecklenburg.
Pageant of Charlotte and Old Mecklenburg
From about 1925 until 1942 "Old Wayside," the nom de plume assumed by Harold C. Brown, was well known throughout the Carolinas. Among shut-ins he was even more widely known and loved.
Charlotte's most serious labor disturbance occurred near midnight on August 25, 1919, when five men were killed and more than a dozen wounded by police guarding car barns of the Southern Public Utilities Company against damage by striking conductors and motormen. Operatives of street cars owned by Southern Public Utilities Company in Charlotte and other cities went on strike August 10, 1919, for higher wages and union recognition. When the company attempted to operate cars with new employees, various depredations were committed by strikers and sympathizers.